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8/25/14

59% of Asian men are married.54% of White men are married.45% of Hispanic men are married.36% of Black men are married.

These statistics are hot off the presses and from the wonderful researchers at Freakonomics. Let's now place them next to another report I first wrote about in my blog "6 Ways to Make Sure You NEVER Get Rich." This table refers to something called the Racial Wealth Gap using data from the U.S. Census Bureau:

CNN.com says that Black Americans are - on average - twenty-times poorer than White Americans according to the last Census. As I read the article, my mind starting racing. I knew things were bad, but this bad? How could this be? Why could this be? What can be done about it? This was crazy. The median white family has twenty times the net worth of the median black family. I'm being repetitive, but let that sink in for a second.

Hispanics in America are richer than blacks, too, though not quite by a factor of twenty-three. Hispanics are about twice as well off. Asians are between whites and Hispanics.

Something is clearly amiss.

When talking about wealth and income disparity, the less endowed often fall back on complaining - and complaining isn't a plan. Also, you'll notice it's only poor people who talk about income. Rich people talk about worth. So, here's where we are. If you are not where you want to be financially, it is time to do something differently and do it now.

You will (most likely) never get rich if you stay single. It is better to get married and stay married. Remaining single well into adulthood and divorce both destroy wealth, income, savings and stability. Not only will you destroy what you have worked for if you divorce, but you make it harder to come back up. Too many separate accounts, too much money going to employ child support office workers, two electric bills, too many people renting and not able to afford to own homes. In addition, it's been proven on top of proven that marriage accelerates wealth. Whoever thinks it's smarter to be single, has been duped for the most part.

Could it be that marrying (and presumably staying married) is the one big missing key in closing the wealth gap? I think so. I came across some interesting thoughts on the Freakonomics of Marriage the other day. I read a lot. I listen to a lot of podcasts. Some beg to be shared and this is one. The authors of Freakonomics produce a radio program on which they discuss elements of their writing and research. I pulled the above statistics from a broadcast called "Why Marry?"

First, if you aren't familiar with Freakonomics, it is a quite interesting exploration of the economic side of EVERYTHING... in this case, marriage. In fact, their discussion of the above stats are a part of their attempts to make possible ties to poverty and prosperity. Here's a link to check out the book: LINK-TASTIC! So you know, these are academics with somewhat of a bias FOR marriage but a bias against what their Guest calls "Biblical" marriage. Therefore, you might listen aware of that and just digest the statistics. Still, an interesting discussion. Married people, in fact, have higher incomes.

It is entirely possible that people are poorer because they’re not marrying. It's also possible that they don’t marry because they’re poor. I won't retype their entire broadcast. Listen for yourself. As you do, ask yourself these questions: How costly is being single? Are we passing the penalties of our singleness on to our children? How can we reverse these trends?

I think a closer examination of marriage will reveal that there are many benefits beyond the obvious. I think we may owe it to society to get married. What do you think?

While we're at it, want another interesting topic to explore? Leaving behind the talk about marriage... is it possible that people aren't even having sex anymore? That seems to be the trend.

We've all experienced the feeling of coming back from vacation and having so much to say that you're both excited and 100% sure you'll forget something. Well, I have a few things I feel like you need to let into your consciousness today. You'll be better for it. That much I know.

I feel blessed to have come across (via Jay Mohr) this interesting guy named Barry Katz. I like listening to Mohr's takes on sports and from time-to-time there'd be a guy in his studio who seemed familiar and friendly with Jay but never frivolous. He always had something pithy to say and was transparent as hell - which always appeals to me. Even more important he seemed to be speaking directly to me and saying some things I sorely needed to hear about persistence, making an impact, going for my dreams. I needed his mix of encouragement, butt-kicking and entertaining stories. The timing was perfect in my life.

In searching to learn more about him, it turns out he does a nice little podcast. As always, if it's made an impact on me, I like to share it. There are a few interviews in particular that you might want to listen to. I like to try and have something going as I work or drive around during the day. It could work for you, too. Here are a couple that bubbled to the surface.

Reginald Hudlin, former chief executive of BET, writer, director and producer sat down with Barry to discuss his background, his impressive career beginning with the movie "House Party" all the way to his recent work as Producer on "Django Unchained" and ends this wonderful interview with his best advice for how you can get to the next level in whatever you've chosen for your profession.

Dr. Phil is someone I can admit to being very guilty of underestimating. I'll also admit that I've still never seen his show. Yet, even without my viewership Dr. Phil McGraw is perhaps the most well-known mental health professional in the world along with being the leading daytime talk show HOST in the country. As it turns out, he's quite a character, very funny and has a lot of wisdom to share. Who knew?!

What I like about Barry is he does a good job of getting accomplished people to share life lessons and business lessons that go beyond whatever their jobs have been in the entertainment field. So, while it's interesting to hear Hudlin talk about getting his first big break and making House Party (Who doesn't remember doing the Kid-n-Play with their own friends?!), listening to his background and escaping East St. Louis probably means more to where you are in life.

With Dr. Phil, I'm ashamed to say I never have know much about him. I think you'll enjoy his stories, too, because he's crazy funny and (as you might imagine) direct - in some ways he's even more direct in this mostly uncensored setting. That's good for you as a listener!

As a little bonus for my entrepreneur friends, David Salzman is another interview you need to check out here:

Check out my Twitter for more notes and wisdom from Barry. You'll thank me!